January 24, 2014

Kuechly gets defensive signal-calling duties at Pro Bowl

The first practice for Deion Sanders' team was a pretty laid-back affair Thursday.

And then there was Luke Kuechly.

It's not like the Panthers' middle linebacker was running over ball-carriers or blitzing into the face of Cam Newton, his Team Sanders and real-life teammate.

This was after all a Pro Bowl practice, conducted in shorts, cleats and ball caps/floppy hats.

But it was the focus that Kuechly brought to the defensive huddle that was telling. In his first practice at his first Pro Bowl, Kuechly was calling the defensive signals and shouting instructions to veterans such as Terrell Suggs.

Colts defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, part of Chuck Pagano's staff that is working with Sanders' team, said that Kuechly's attention to detail is one of the reasons he entrusted him with the signal calling.

Manusky also noticed how Kuechly jumped "right into it" Thursday during the one-hour session at Hickam Air Force Base near Pearl Harbor.

It felt like first of many more Pro Bowl practices to come for one of the league's best defensive players.